BOFHs boasts bigger pay-packets despite declining budgets

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Corporations may be spending a little less on IT these days, but they're paying their BOFHs higher salaries, a survey conducted by the Meta Group reveals.

Last year, around 40 per cent of IT managers interviewed by Meta for its annual IT Staffing and Compensation Guide, said salaries consume between 25 and 50 per cent of their budgets. This year, the proportion of managers devoting that level of budget to wage packets rose to 61 per cent.

Typically, base salaries have risen by around five per cent, said Meta, the same rate as last year. However, 26 per cent of IT managers said they expect IT wage budgets to rise next year, compared with 22 per cent in last year's survey.

And BOFHs will continue to receive superior remuneration to their non-techie colleagues, the survey shows. During 2002, 67 per cent of companies said they pay IT staff more on average than non-IT staff; in the 2003 survey, that figure had risen to 75 per cent.

"This percentage is getting close to the historic high of 2000, in which 80 per cent of respondents reported paying higher salaries to IT employees," said Meta in a statement. "This compensation imbalance can be partially attributed to the overall need to retain key IT staff." ®